Tuesday, April 10, 2012

The down low on Lucifer

“How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the
morning! Art thou cut down to the ground, which did weaken the nations!

For thou hast said in thy heart: I will ascend into
heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will sit also upon the
mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north;

I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be
like the Most High.

Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of
the pit.

They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, and
shall consider thee, and shall say: Is this the man that made the earth to
tremble, that did shake kingdoms?” (2 Nephi 24:12-16)

Isn’t it amazing to consider
that Jesus and Lucifer came from the same place? What total opposites! Lucifer
was in heaven, our Father called a meeting in which He asked for a volunteer
savior. Jesus volunteered, but so did Lucifer.

“Behold, here am I, send me, I
will be thy son, and I will redeem all mankind, that one soul shall not be
lost, and surely I will do it; wherefore give me thine honor.” (Moses 4:1)

How was Lucifer going to redeem
mankind?

“Satan rebelled against me, and
sought to destroy the agency of man…” (Moses 4:3)

Lucifer was going to take our
agency away. He was going to force us to follow his rules so that we could
return to the presence of our Father.

Obviously Lucifer was not given
the job and ultimately we know that he was cast out of heaven. Lucifer’s
location and title changed, but his plan really didn’t change at all. Think
about what he was planning to do. He was going to force us to do the things he
wanted us to do so that he could claim ownership of our souls.

“And he became Satan, yea, even
the devil, the father of all lies, to deceive and to blind men, and to lead
them captive at his will, even as many as would not hearken unto my voice.”
(Moses 4:4)

Isn’t that what he is still
trying to do? He is still trying to force us to do his will. He is still trying
to control our spirit through our weaknesses and sins.

Are his temptations a necessary
part of the plan of salvation? Yes. We have to learn to overcome temptation and
sin so that we can repent and be made clean through the atonement of Christ.

2 Nephi 24:16 points out that
at the end of the conflict people will look at Satan and they will say, “Is
this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms?”

I take that to mean that we
will be surprised by just how unimpressive Satan really is. We are going to
look at him and say “Really? That guy?”

Satan only has as much power as
he is given. The Lord allowed Satan into the Garden of Eden so that Adam and
Eve could be tested. Satan is allowed to continue to tempt us because the Lord
needs to weed out the faithful. But don’t you see? The Lord did not give Satan
dominion over our lives. The only way Satan gains more power than what the Lord
allows him to have is if we allow him to have it. If we use our agency to
follow Satan than it gives him more power in our own life. He has no real
power. We fear him because we think he can make our lives terrible, he can’t.
We can make our lives terrible by listening to him. Kick him out. He has no
business in your life.

His goal has never changed from the beginning. He
wants to enslave you. He can’t enslave you without your permission. Kick him
out. You are stronger than he is, you have more power than he does. Kick him
out. You have the power to bind Satan by making good choices. Bind him and kick
his butt out!

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My name is D. Lowell Brown. I have been writing LDS related literature on and off for nine years. Two of my articles have appeared in the New Era.
I love writing about the gospel, and hope that you will enjoy reading.